Shaozhou Tuhua
| Tuhua | |
|---|---|
| Shaozhou Tuhua, Xiangnan Huhua, Yuebei Tuhua Shipo, Shina |
|
| Spoken in |  China |
| Region | Hunan–Guang |
| Ethnicity | Chinese, Yao |
| Native speakers | 1 million (date missing) |
| Language family |
Sino-Tibetan
|
| Writing system | Nüshu |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None |
Shaozhou Tuhua (traditional: 韶州土話; simplified: 韶州土话 Sháozhōu Tǔhuà "Shaoguan tuhua"), or simply Tuhua, is an unclassified Chinese language spoken in the border region of the provinces Guangdong, Hunan and Guangxi. It is mutually unintelligible with Hunanese, Cantonese, or Mandarin.
It is known as Yuebei Tuhua 粤北土话 "Northern Guangxi/Guangdong Tuhua" in Guangxi and Guangdong and as Xiangnan Tuhua 湘南土话 "Southern Hunanese Tuhua" or Hunan Tuhua in Hunan, and as 虱婆话 shīpó huà "Shipo dialect", 虱乸话 shīnǎ huà "Shina dialect",[1] or 虱婆声 shīpó shēng "Shipo accent"[2] in its own region. It is also known as Pingdi Yaohua (平地瑶话 "Lowland Yao dialect"), locally Piongtuojo, Piongtoajeu; "Yao" here might be a cultural designation, as only half of the one million speakers are classified as ethnic Yao.[3][4]
Tuhua is retreating before Cantonese and Hakka and is found in rural dialect islands in the northern Guangdong counties of Lechang, Renhua, Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County, Qujiang, Nanxiong, Zhenjiang, Wujiang (parts of Shaoguan prefecture-level city), and Lianzhou and Liannan Yao Autonomous County in Qingyuan prefecture-level city. In Hunan it is found in the southeast, throughout most of Yongzhou prefecture (apart from Qiyang County in the northeast) and the western half of Chenzhou prefecture.
Some scholars consider it to be an extension of Ping Chinese (Pinghua) in Guangxi. Others consider it to have a foundation in Song dynasty Middle Gan, mixed with Hakka, Cantonese, and Southwestern Mandarin. There is likely also significant non-Chinese influence such as Yao, and it may even have started out as Sinicized Yao.[5]
Tuhua is the language of nüshu, the "women's script" of Jiangyong County in Yongzhou, Hunan.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.gdsglib.cn/html/CS/MF/2008-8-20/088204472F780C64HD15KEF6.htm
- ^ 武江概况 人口语言
- ^ Ming studies, 34–35:55, University of Minnesota, 1995
- ^ Ethnologue: "Pingdi Yao (Piongtuojo, Piongtoajeu) is a variety of Chinese with 1,000,000 speakers, half of whom are members of Yao nationality"
- ^ Cited in Chiang (1995) We two know the script, we have become good friends, p. 28, footnote 43.
[edit] External links
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